Element
“Explain this to me,” one of the many escaped prisoners murmured across the tight corridor. The passage was dimly lit by the four unicorns spread throughout the slowly-but-firmly trotting group. “If we're shut off from the only plausible escape route behind us, then what is the point in moving forward?”
“Because we have the ability to move forward,” Astral flatly said. His face strained with the effort he took to continuously cast his light spell. He was having a difficult time walking straight. His eyes were thin with exhaustion. Nevertheless, he kept speaking, “Minotaurs aren't like diamond dogs. They dig with an express purpose. It's quite possible that there may be an avenue of escape for us down this lengthy corridor.”
“And if there isn't?”
“It certainly promises a great deal more than anything we could have found by digging into the debris behind us! Face it: attempting to return the way we came would have invited a flash flood throughout this entire passageway. It's best that we keep moving and see what it is we may discover.”
“Is that an idea you came up with or Miss buck-and-run?” another pony grumbled.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash barked from where she led the group far ahead. “I'm not so bad at thinking, y'know!” She shrugged. “I just tend to move my wings faster than my brain.”
“Give her some credit,” Red Turnip said. On his back, Rockspot snoozed in a slump, exhausted from all of the previous bedlam. “If she didn't blaze in here and risk her neck for us, we would still be in the minotaurs' clutches.”
“I'm beginning to wonder if that would be a better thing,” another pony grumbled. His voice was joined by a series of unenthusiastic but agreeable murmurs.
“Okay, so this isn't exactly a pretty situation!” Rainbow Dash spun around and trotted backwards, facing the twenty-nine equines trotting directly after her. “But I promise you! I'm gonna get you guys home safely! I've been in worse straits! Trust me, we're hardly screwed here!”
The ponies merely exchanged nervous glances.
In the meantime, Rainbow Dash trotted sideways and trotted close to Astral. “Uhm...” She cleared her throat and whispered, “Just how screwed are we here?”
Astral's horn dimmed briefly as he leaned back towards her. “None of us have been sent to labor down here: not even my unicorn cohorts. I'm judging that this is the deepest that the minotaurs have ever dug, and it's obvious they didn't want even their slaves to see what they were excavating.”
“What do you suppose that means?”
“Whatever they were searching for in these depths, they may very well have found it.”
“Is that where we're headed, then?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The treasure of the minotaurs' eye?”
“You could always scout ahead and take a look for yourself.”
“You're cool and all, Astral, but I don't feel quite right with leaving the entire group alone so soon.”
“Our enemies are sealed off from us,” he said, then shifted the leather belt on his shoulders for emphasis. “What's more, you've acquired the chaos strips. So we shouldn't have any monsters to contend with.”
“Still, I wanna hang around with you guys. Just in case,” she murmured, staring ahead.
Astral gazed quietly at her. He looked at the pendant around her neck. Looking ahead once more, he spoke, “So where are the other five?”
Rainbow nearly tripped over her own hooves. “The other five what-now?”
“The Elements of Harmony, of course.”
Rainbow Dash gulped. She glanced at the walls of the place. “What would a Wintergate unicorn know about the Elements of Harmony?”
“Plenty. Magicians from all four corners of the world know the pendants of the Sky Goddeses by heart. If there was no Harmony in this world, Chaos would rule. If there was total Chaos, there'd be no way to tap into magic. It's important for us to keep track of the Six Elements, you see.”
“Uh huh...” Rainbow Dash droned. “Perhaps it's just an uncanny resemblance.”
“Then, perhaps, if it is so unremarkable an heirloom, you could remove it and relax your neck muscles for a bit?”
Rainbow Dash said nothing.
Astral focused and intensified the light at the tip of his horn. He cast a firm glow across the upcoming lengths of the tunnel. “I can't pretend to know anything about you, Miss Dash, but I know one thing. I'm glad to have lived through all of this miserable imprisonment just to meet you. If we have the bearer of the Element of Loyalty on our side, then I'm certain we are bound to make it out of this predicament safely.
She was still silent.
He raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at her. “After all, you could very easily have abandoned us—complete and total strangers—upon our first meeting.”
“I just want each and every one of you to get out safely,” she blurted.
“And why is that?”
She exhaled sharply. “Just 'cuz'...” There was a distant look in her eyes, almost glossy. She blinked, and suddenly halted in her tracks.
The other ponies stirred curiously.
Red Turnip Senior craned his neck to get a better look. “What is it? What do you see?”
“A chamber,” Rainbow Dash murmured. “A very large one.” She flapped her wings and soared towards the gaping mouth to a large interior within the earth. “You guys wait right here! I'll be back in a jiffy!”
“Careful!” Astral called after her. “You don't know what could be ahead! Even a brave pegasus should practice caution—” He lingered in mid-speech, blinking.
Rainbow Dash had rubbed a hoof over the ruby “lightning-bolt” of her pendant. A magical glow shone over the walls around her. She made for the large cavern like a glimmering beacon.
Astral blinked, and his lips pursed open. “Fascinating...”
“What is it, Astral?” a fellow unicorn remarked.
“I don't think she's a bearer of the Element of Loyalty after all,” he said.
“No?”
He slowly shook his head with a gentle smile. “I think she's the Element itself.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
800 users online
649,888 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I love how i read a chapter of this story and then immediatly it gets updated. My unread stories que goes from 147 to 146 back to 147.
FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. I WANT TO READ THIS STORY SO BAD BUT IT KEEPS GETTING UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
oh ho ho! things with rainbow mane just get more and more complicated, and she remains as uncomplex as ever. good times...
858289
I think what you meant to say is, "thank you for this awesome story".
themavesite.com/TMS-Pictures/Epic/Memes/CerealGuySpit.png
MUST!! READ!! MORE!!!
The plot thickens!
THE PLOT THICKENS!!! Dun dun dun... And now, to keep reading.
-THEpandaman007
1049389
1123868
1184253
... Was it not said right at the start of season one that the main six are themselves the elements of harmony? I just take this as Astral realizing it for himself, not as some big reveal or anything.
Sorry for the slight necroing; you folks probably don't care anymore. I really shouldn't have put off reading through the rest of this story for so long...
Ok theres alot of plot stuff going on right now and theres no comment that convieniently sums up all of it, so im gonna give it a shot...
...lets see, what would dashie76 do?
IIIIIIt's dashie evaluation time!
So in this chapter we find out that Rainbow is more than just the "bearer" of the element of loyalty. According to a self-proclaimed magic scholar who knows everything about the EoM, she is the element itself. In other news, we see Dash once again sidestepping questions about the other mane six. Its odd really, that somepony who CLEARLY embodies everything that loyalty encompasses would be so quick to abandon her friends. She won't even talk about them, honor them by spreading their legacy. Unless she hasn't yet copped with whatever happened to them. perhaps the wounds from her loss are still to fresh. Eitherway, I really like the author's portrayal of the elements. No more sorta-loyal choices like we see in the show. Here dashie is loyalty personified.
I hope I did you justice dashie76
IIIIIt's Dashie's Second Marathon Evaluation Time!
So in this chapter, we get even more ominous hints about the fate of the remaining five of the mane six. I personally think that, since it has basically been confirmed that something bad has happened to the mane six minus Dash, she just can't cope with what happened to them yet, and that's why she keeps dancing around that topic of conversation, always avoiding it. Also, Astral makes a comment saying that she believes Dash doesn't bear the Element of Loyalty, she "is" the Element. Now, this was already confirmed in the Nightmare Moon Saga, but we really get to see it more in this fanfic. There's no more on-the-fence loyalty, or half loyalty, Dash helps just about everyone she can in this story. Perhaps she has gained this ultimate loyalty because she has been wearing the Element of Loyalty Necklace for so long. I worry, however, if this loyalty will make her reckless in upcoming chapters. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Okaaaaay...4 left, and still going strong...at least it's not as bad as the first Marathon Evaluation...<shudder>
P.S.S. 1286271 You most certainly did do me justice! Actually, you did make a few good points that I would have missed, and so I have a request for you - in my future Evaluation Times, would you mind proofreading them and making a comment saying if I missed any major points? I could definitely use the insight and different perspective, what with high school stealing nearly all of my brain cells...
...Please comment me back and tell me what you think! 
I....
EXPLAIN WHY SHE'S SO RELUCTANT
PLEASEEE
hm, could it be that the element itself took over dash's body and this is just a rainbow-ish doppleganger. Did dash share her fate with the other 5?
IT ALL MAKES SENSE
Ok, nothing makes sense.
goosebumps....~
Yes, Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty. I mean, we already knew that, but it's quite nice to hear it spoken aloud. As others have said before, she really is loyal in this story, always helping everybody out with their problems.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Everyone seem to be saying that Rainbow can't remove the necklace, even if she wanted to. In this case, that's true, but i'm pretty sure no one outside of Equestria would know of her 'condition' as it were. Also, everyone that recognizes the Element seems to think that it's a heavy burden, which, of course, is true for her. But how could Astral have recognized the strain she's under that swiftly?
That's exactly how I see her.
Also, so Rainbow rubbing her necklace and saying a few words makes her the element itself? Are you implying elsewise she couldn't have lit it up?
So she has taken upon herself all the elements. Unless he's making a general statement about her character, which he could be, but I doubt it.
What needs answered now is what she intends to do with them. Her journey is long, longer than most mortals can comprehend, so says Luna. Either the original bearers are long gone, or she needs to restore them, or she's doing something else entirely. But, concerning her predicament and the "greyness" she sees in dreams, I suspect this has something to do with Discord's anti-harmony curse he cast upon the six in the show. Her pendant is keeping it at bay. Maybe the others were already overtaken? Or they gave of themselves to Dash so she can remain unbroken by the curse and reach her destination and fix it all, since she can travel the farthest the fastest.
Just my speculation.
This story gets better with each passing chapter. I can't wait for recent revelations to be expanded upon.
~SolidFire
*gasp*
What a glorious line.
Roll credits.
NO SHITE SHERLOCK
This is some good shit right here.
my guess she wasn't able to do so for someone she cared about.
07/14/2019
02:21 UTC
I wonder what that last sentence means. Sure, Rainbow embodies the element of Loyalty, but does he really mean to say that her current standing is linked to the pendant itself?
How many hundreds of chapters before I find the answer to that question, I wonder.
9848815
Well in season 9 of the show we learn that is true. Thanks to Discord.
ooooohh shit dude
So... My current guess. She BECAME an element. But she is the only surviving one. Well, elements can't die, but bearers can. So other elements are unactive. And since this Loyalty is alone, and recently screwed by Chaos - she doesn't feel well.